Tri-Point Haeme(rs) Illinois Lutheran in RVC

Saturday

Dec 7, 2013 at 1:16 AM

Haeme tops Tri-Point scoring in league win

Erich Murphy

Justin Cox didn’t talk too much about Jared Haeme in a season-preview discussion. But the Tri-Point head coach was happy to speak about his left-handed junior after Friday night. Haeme scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Chargers to a 66-43 River Valley Conference victory over Illinois Lutheran. Of his points, 14 came in the crucial second quarter. “We’ve been kind of waiting for that,” Cox said of Haeme’s effort. “He’s a kid that when he gets going, he gets going. He really stepped up tonight.” Haeme’s first points of the second period came on a 3-pointer that broke a 17-17 tie with six minutes to go in the first half. He added a three-point play with 5:36 remaining for a 23-17 advantage while finding a groove to a big quarter. Haeme’s next points came after getting fouled on a play that really turned the tied in favor of The Point. Haeme got fouled on the defensive end and the Chargers were in the bonus. Illinois Lutheran’s Collin Borns was whistled for the foul, and then was hit with a technical after making a comment and racing to the other end of the floor. Haeme sank the first two free throws before Lutheran head coach Mark Kjenstad called timeout. Haeme came out of the break to drain the two technical tosses for a 27-21 Tri-Point lead. The advantage was nice, but hardly comfortable, until Haeme completed his scoring run to close out the half. Haeme kissed a shot high off the glass on a runner to the basket with a minute to go, and then converted a conventional three-point play with 18.5 seconds on the clock to put Tri-Point ahead 34-24. “He’s a silent killer, he was a spark plug,” Cox said of Haeme. It was Haeme’s scoring that was key to the 22-point second quarter for The Point, but it was defense that blew the game open in the second half. “I think the 2-2-1 is going to become our bread and butter. It’s supposed to slow the game down but for us it made mistakes and we got after it,” Cox said. Helping make the zone effective, besides the small playing surface, was the absence of Illinois Lutheran all-conference guard Mack Newson, who was sidelined with a severe ankle sprain. “This is a tough place to play. Coach Cox really knows how to use it to his advantage,” Kjenstad said, adding that missing Newson was a factor. As for the home team Chargers, they were able to hold the visiting Chargers to just two free throws through the first six minutes of the third period while building a 45-26 lead. Cox was also happy to see the rest of the team step forward in a time of need. Sharpshooting junior guard Timmy Crouch was not finding the range on this night. He made just one basket, and it came on a layup after he recorded a steal in the first quarter. “They were on him hard,” Cox said of Crouch. I told there would be games like this, when nothing was going to go in. Other guys had to step and tonight they did.” Besides Haeme, one of those stepping forward was Alex Ogle, who finished with 16 points. “Alex has all the tools to do it,” Cox said. “We tried to stop (Crouch) but they were a lot more balanced than last year,” Kjenstad. Brandon Wilkerson and Josh Flessner contributed 7 points apiece to the Tri-Point cause. Zach Taylor added 5 points and was followed by Josh Thorson with 4, Kyle Moritz with 3 points and Chris Scott, Crouch and Justin Johnson with 2 points apiece. Borns guided Illinois Lutheran with 16 points and Sam Geraci threw in 10.

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